Waterworks Assessing Parkway Pipe Damage: Update

By WYDaily Staff Saturday, January 08, 2011

Newport News Waterworks has located the damaged section of a 42-inch water main where it crosses the Colonial Parkway in York County, between the Parkway Drive overpass and Hubbard Lane. Although the damaged pipe section is located beside the road, a portion of the Parkway had to be excavated in order to gain access to the pipe.

The break has closed the Parkway between Route 199/Cheatham Annex and Parkway Drive while repairs are made.

According to a press release from Waterworks, a representative from the pipe manufacturer was at the site on Friday, Jan. 7, to consult and advise on the repair process. Once the replacement pipe section is ordered, shipped and received, Waterworks estimates that it will take a few days to repair the pipe.

Because the Colonial Parkway is paved with exposed aggregate concrete and not asphalt, road repair will require additional time. The road repair crew must frame, pour and brush the concrete. Waterworks estimates that total pipe and road repair work could be completed within two weeks (this estimate is contingent upon receipt of the necessary materials and weather conditions). However, once the replacement concrete is poured and brushed, it could take upwards of 28 days to cure, according to Parkway officials.

According to a National Park Service spokesman, the Colonial Parkway was closed between Route 199/Cheatham Annex and Parkway Drive - a closure that shuts off the Queens Lake/Hubbard Lane interchange - because of where the break occurred and construction staging requirements. Further complicating matters is a buried natural gas pipeline in the area.

The NPS decided to close the Parkway when the leak was discovered earlier this week because of the ice that was starting to form across the road and, said NPS spokesman James D. Perry, "an uncertainty about the integrity of the soil underneath the roadway. Because we are unable to know if the leak has caused any washing away of material under the road, it is prudent to remove traffic from the area."

The park service recognizes the inconvenience to area residents, Perry said, especially those who live in Queens Lake, who use the Parkway on a regular basis.